1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to combination document punching and binding systems and more particularly to punching and binding systems that utilize comb-type binders.
2. Description of Related Art
Combination paper punching and binding machines are known in the art. However, most current machines that are utilized in an office environment are specifically designed for one size of paper. In the United States, the majority of machines are configured to handle only letter size (8.5″×11″) paper. In Europe, the majority of machines are configured to handle metric A4 size (8.27″×11.69″) paper. In today's business world, however, it is not uncommon for an office to routinely handle both letter size and metric A4 size paper. As such, in order to have the capability to bind stacks of both sizes of paper, separate machines are required. Although some machines are configured to handle both sizes of paper, the spacing of the punches is optimized for one size or the other. This yields a good quality bound book for one size, but not the other.
In addition, most machines that are used in an office environment cannot handle a large number of papers at one time. This is due to their compact size and limited power. The power required to punch through many sheets of paper at one time is significant because, in most machines, multiple holes are punched simultaneously. This limits the amount of paper that can be processed at one time. Although machines can be designed with increased power, increasing the power of a machine necessarily increases the size and cost of the machine.
Moreover, desktop type binding machines that also have the capability of punching the holes in the papers prior to the binding operation typically require significant operator interaction. A typical machine first requires the operator to lift the lid of the machine to the open position. The operator must find the correct size of binding element for the particular document that is about to be bound. The operator may select the “covers” setting on the machine, insert the covers into the machine, pull a lever to punch the covers, and then release the lever. The covers must then be removed from the machine. The operator may then select the “document” setting on the machine, insert the document to be bound into the machine, pull the lever to punch the document, release the lever, and then remove the document. The covers are then placed on the document. The binding element is carefully loaded by hand onto the machine so that the binding element can be opened with a lever. The covered document must be loaded onto the opened binding element, sometimes in stages if the document is too thick. Once all of the pages of the document are loaded onto the binding element, the lever may be released to close the binding element. The document is now bound.
In view of the current state of the art, the inventors have endeavored to provide a wide variety of improvements to punching and/or binding apparatus.